No offence intended, Imam saysDisputed Address

A Toronto imam said yesterday he did not intend to insult non-Muslims during an address at his mosque on those who want the niqab and burka banned.

Said Rageah, the imam at Toronto's Abu Huraira Centre, said that only someone who did not understand Islam would have come away from last Friday's prayers thinking that anyone at his mosque hated members of other faiths.

He was specifically addressing an article that appeared in the National Post on Thursday in which some critics said the language he used was inflammatory.